


Worth It

by lawpet



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Feelings Realization, First Dates, Link (Legend of Zelda) is a Dork, M/M, POV Male Character, Reader Is Badass, Reader is awkward
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-14 14:14:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28546941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lawpet/pseuds/lawpet
Summary: Navigating my emotions for the Captain wouldn’t be easy, but something in my chest told me that it’d be worth it.That is, if he could ever figure out his schedule.
Relationships: Link/Male reader, Link/Reader
Comments: 7
Kudos: 32





	Worth It

"Don't blink, you might miss me!"

I grit my teeth at the taunt, eyes locked on my sparring partner. He was fast, I'd give him that, but I'd gone against much faster.

The dark haired soldier rushed me, counting on his speed to distract me from the right hook he was preparing to deal. I side-stepped him easily, grabbing hold of his wrist and using his momentum to throw him to the ground. I could feel the thrill of power in my muscles, and I mentally patted myself on the back for putting the work into my physique.

My partner hit the ground hard, the air being pushed from his lungs by the force of the impact. I dropped to the ground quickly, scooping the brunette into a headlock before he could get his bearings. Three feeble taps rapped against my forearm, letting me know that I'd won the match. I released my hold, easing my worn out opponent to the ground so he wouldn't further injure himself. The soldiers who'd gathered to watch on the sidelines whooped and cheered, and I basked in the afterglow of my victory.

Our Captain, Link, came forward, urging the men to get back to their own matches with nothing more than a sharp glare. Link held out a canteen to me when he was close enough, greeting me with a subtle nod before kneeling down to check on my victim.

"Can you stand, soldier?" the Captain asked in a stern, yet concerned, tone. The brunette nodded, pushing himself off the ground and onto wobbly feet. Link gave the man a solid clap on the shoulder, "you did well, but you let yourself rely too much on your speed."

"My speed always works, though," the soldier complained. Link shook his head patiently, "it’ll work against most opponents, but someone like (Y/n) will see through that and use it against you. Trust me, he's even laid me out a few times."

The soldier raised his eyebrows in surprise, his eyes shifting between myself and Link. I felt blood rush to my cheeks and I quickly took a swig from the canteen to distract myself. Normally, a compliment like that would just roll off me like any other praise, but when it came from someone as strong and capable as the Captain, I had no control over the way my stomach twisted.

Link shared a few final words of wisdom before dismissing the soldier to the medical bay to get checked for a concussion. The blonde haired Hylian sauntered over to me, sighing in relief once he was gone. I chuckled under my breath, "long day?"

Link nodded, holding out his hand to silently ask for the canteen. I handed it over, flicking my eyes around the training grounds at all the other matches going on. They were all skilled fighters, but most of them had obvious weaknesses that could easily be exploited in battle. I knew how hard Link tried to get the unruly band of men to train and focus on other skills besides brute strength, so I understood why he looked so defeated when he looked out over his men. Link was younger than most of the soldiers under his command, some even being old enough to have served under his father, a fact that made them resistant to the orders the young Captain doled out.

It seemed the only way he could get them to listen was by beating the snot out of them in a spar, and even then they were resentful.

"I don't think you need me to tell you that you were great out there," Link spoke, his cyan eyes glimmering with mischief, "though I suppose anyone would look good against a weak opponent."

I huffed a laugh, a haughty smile spreading across my face, "I always look good, even against you."

I pulled the bottom of my shirt up to wipe away a bead of sweat that was running down my cheek, an action that I'd repeated at least a hundred times during training. It could be my imagination, but I swore that Link's eyes darted to look at my exposed abdomen before quickly looking away. I dropped my shirt awkwardly, unable to explain why I felt my heart beating against my rib cage from just a glance.

"Yeah," Link agreed, staring straight ahead at something in the distance, the tips of his ears turning a charming shade of pink, "especially against me."

I didn't know what to do with that comment. A part of me wanted to think that Link was flirting with me, but another part of me knew that Link didn't flirt. Sure, he was playful and teasing sometimes, but that's just how friends act around each other. There's an easy way to see if this was flirting though, all I have to do is flirt back.

"What're you doing for dinner tonight?"

Super smooth, super casual, super safe. If he has plans then I'll just make something up to make it sound like I wasn't just asking him to eat with me tonight.

"Nothing," Link answered, turning his head to examine me with a cautiously hopeful eye. This was going better than expected! Now just play it cool, don't make it sound too much like a date...

"Would you like to eat with me, maybe?" I questioned, my pulse quickening when I saw the look of confusion on Link's face.

"Tonight?" Link asked. I nodded, "preferably, yeah."

The color that had been exclusively at the tips of his ears began to run down to his neck, turning the Captain a shade of red I'd never seen outside of intense training sessions. The space between his eyebrows pinched for a moment before he sighed dejectedly, "I can't tonight, I'm escorting the Princess to Lanayru on official business."

I let the disappointment roll off me for now, not wanting to show how much I'd been hoping for a yes. I smiled tightly, "it's okay, not like I've never eaten alone before."

Link's expression deflated. "What about tomorrow? I'm free then," he offered, his voice containing an emotion that sounded too much like hope. I shook my head with a patient smile, "you're not free tomorrow Captain, you're getting knighted."

Link frowned, his head tilting slightly to the side as he tried to piece together his schedule. Just then, there were a chorus of shouts as another sparring match began to get out of hand. Link snapped out of his daze, switching back into his Captain persona. He took a few steps towards the chaos before turning on his heel to face me, "dinner whenever I'm free, promise!"

I gave him a mock two-finger salute, "I'll hold you to that, sir."

A brief smile graced his lips as he returned my salute, turning away to run full tilt towards his unruly soldiers. I let out a sigh when I was sure I was out of earshot, letting my shoulders slump after holding my posture taught for so long. That was...not the way I was planning that conversation to go. But now begs the question, is Link actually interested in me or is he humoring a friend? I wasn’t sure if the Hylian even had a romantic life. The Captain made a point to never join in with the 'barracks talk,' no matter how many times the guys begged him to share.

_'C'mon Cap'n, with eyes like those you must have broads tripping over themselves for a night with you!'_

_'If I had that Sword, I'd make any woman in Hyrule my wife! They couldn't tell me no!'_

_'What about the Princess, eh? Any luck there?'_

It always made my skin crawl to hear the way some of the men talked about women, especially how they just assumed that everyone around them felt the same way. Link, to his credit, always remained stone faced and cold whenever those questions were being thrown around, never indulging that sort of behavior from his men. If they wanted to talk cooking techniques or politics, Captain would maybe throw in a comment or two, but as soon as anyone mentioned his love life he’d clam up.

So how was I supposed to know what he liked?

I was beginning to have second thoughts about dinner plans, part of me hoping that Link would just forget about it and that these feelings would just disappear on their own. But then, I look across the courtyard and see Link barking out orders; his sword drawn, eyes ablaze with fiery passion and at least one person’s blood smeared across his training uniform, and I feel my heart ache.

Navigating my emotions for the Captain wouldn’t be easy, but something in my chest told me that it’d be worth it.

That is, if he could ever figure out his schedule.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there~
> 
> This is an experimental piece that I wrote just to dip my toes into writing from a male reader POV. I’ve written male characters and mxm before, but never in a xreader sort of way, but I don’t think I’d id too awful!
> 
> If you took the time to read this, let me know what you think! I want to expand on this one shot and turn it into a multi chapter fic where we explore everything that led up to this point and follow where things may lead if Link ever gets his shit together. 
> 
> Thanks for reading, love you bye~


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